Samsung Gear Fit 3: what we want to see

The Samsung Gear Fit 3 could be one of the best fitness trackers of 2018 – if it launches in 2018. The truth is that we don’t know anything about it yet, but based on the strength of its predecessors we’re somewhat excited by the prospect of it.

We don't even know what name the next flagship fitness tracker from Samsung will sport. Samsung trademarked the name Galaxy Fit in May 2018, so it may be the company decides to rebrand to that new moniker instead of calling to the Gear Fit 3.

We’ll add all the news and rumors to this article as we hear them, but in the meantime you’ll find a wish list of what we want from the wearable, along with some educated guesses as to what it might feature and when it might launch.

Cut to the chase

What is it? Samsung's next fitness tracker

When is it out? Possibly late 2018

What will it cost? Likely upwards of $199 / &#xA3;209 (around AU$370)

Samsung Gear Fit 3 release date and price

There isn’t any release date news about the Samsung Gear Fit 3 yet, but there’s a chance the wearable will follow the lead of the Gear Fit 2 Pro, which was unveiled on August 30 2017 at IFA 2017, before hitting stores in October 2017.

So we might see the Gear Fit 3 at IFA 2018, which takes place August 31 – September 5. Though the Gear Fit 2 was announced in June 2016 and not at IFA, so there’s no guarantee of that.

As for the price, all we can do there is look at the current model too. The Gear Fit 2 Pro launched for $199 / &#xA3;209 (about AU$370), so there’s a chance the Gear Fit 3 will have a similar price.

So far we don't know anything about the follow-up to the Gear Fit 2 Pro

Samsung Gear Fit 3 news and rumors

So far there aren’t any Samsung Gear Fit 3 rumors, but we’d be surprised if the company wasn’t working on it and we’ll keep this page updated with all the news as we hear it.

In the meantime, we can speculate on a few things. For example, the Samsung Gear Fit 3 will probably have many of the same features as the Gear Fit 2 Pro, including a heart rate monitor, GPS and water resistance, along with a color screen.

What we want to see

While we have no news about the Gear Fit 3 as yet, there are plenty of things we want from it, such as the following.

1. A simple setup

Setting up the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro is a clunky experience, thanks primarily to the need to download multiple apps onto your phone just to get the most out of it.

So for the Gear Fit 3 we’d like to see a simpler, more streamlined setup process that allows you to get properly up and running (literally) in a matter of minutes.

2. Better battery life

With limited usage you’ll get two to three days of life out of the Gear Fit 2 Pro and just one day with heavy use, which isn’t awful but certainly isn’t great.

While we’re used to charging our smartwatches daily, fitness trackers often manage to last a little longer, so we’d like to see an extra day or so added to the life of the Gear Fit 3.

3. A reliable barometer

The Samsung Gear Fit 2's barometer wasn't always accurate

One issue we noted with the Gear Fit 2 was that water could mess with the barometer, causing it to think you’ve walked up many more flights of stairs than you actually have.

We’re not expecting this to be an issue with the Samsung Gear Fit 3 but we’ll certainly be disappointed if it is.

4. A reasonable price

While the Gear Fit 2 Pro isn’t wallet-weepingly expensive it did launch at a higher price than the Gear Fit 2, and that’s despite only being slightly improved and landing over a year later, so there’s a worry that the Gear Fit 3 could be a pricey wearable, but we hope Samsung keeps the price competitive.

5. Spotify pre-installed

It’s a small point, but despite Spotify (and specifically its offline mode) being one of the best features of the Gear Fit 2 Pro, it didn’t come pre-installed, even though a bunch of apps did, so we’d like to see the music streamer ready to go out of the box for the Gear Fit 3.

6. A refreshed design

The Samsung Gear Fit 3 could do with a design refresh

The Gear Fit 2 Pro has a fairly nice design, but it’s also pretty much exactly the same as the design of the Gear Fit 2, so we’d like to see Samsung freshen things up a bit for the Gear Fit 3, or even just give buyers a greater selection of colors to choose from.

7. A significant upgrade

The Gear Fit 2 Pro is an accomplished fitness tracker, but it’s only a small upgrade on the Gear Fit 2, so for Samsung to stay relevant and excite us we want some big upgrades from the Gear Fit 3.

That could take the form of new sensors, more metrics, greater accuracy, improved smartwatch features or any number of other things, but we hope Samsung does something to make it stand out.